


Together (or the importance of titles)

by lookinginthelight



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Marriage Proposal, Pete's World, Post-Episode: s04e13 Journey's End
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-01-04
Packaged: 2018-01-07 09:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1118312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookinginthelight/pseuds/lookinginthelight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor’s not big on defined relationships (even after he's half-human) and Rose finally asks him about it. It leads to a bit more than she was expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together (or the importance of titles)

**Author's Note:**

> My SHORT story for the propose-a-thon way back when.

Together.   
  
It’s the only word Rose had ever been able to use to describe the two of them. After months living their new life, Rose still only said that she and the Doctor were  _together_.   
  
At first, she loved it. After years travelling galaxies, after crossing near infinite space just to find him again, words like “girlfriend" or “boyfriend" didn’t really seem to cut it. It did, however, make it difficult to explain their relationship to others.  
  
If ever Rose was asked on a date, she would stammer out “Oh, no, I’m not…er…available." The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed to gracefully talk his way out of anything without ever mentioning that he was taken.   
  
It occurred to Rose that this could have easily never crossed the Doctor’s mind. He’d fit in well enough, but still hadn’t mastered some of the finer points of being human. He still rolled his eyes at anything remotely “domestic" and was forever working on accurately expressing his feelings.   
  
Rose decided she’d ask him.  
  
–  
  
Rose found the Doctor in their kitchen upgrading the toaster for the third time this month. He was bent over the counter with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.   
  
"Doctor?"   
  
He answered with a distracted “Hmm?" without turning to look at her.   
  
"How much concentration does whatever you’re doing take?"   
  
"‘Bout a five, why?"   
  
"Out of what?"  
  
The Doctor turned to Rose. “Out of ten. What’s wrong?"   
  
"Nothing." Rose leaned against the counter next to him. “Just wanted to ask you something."  
  
The Doctor put the toaster down. He greeted Rose properly now, with a smile and a kiss on her cheek. “What is it?"   
  
"Well," Rose paused. It seemed so silly now that she was actually bringing this up, but she wanted to know. “If someone were to ask you what we were, what our…um, relationship was, what would you say?"  
  
The smile that had reached the Doctor’s eyes now faded into barely masked confusion.   
  
"I dunno, what would  _you_  tell them?"   
  
"I don’t know, that’s why I asked you!"   
  
"I hadn’t really thought about it, Rose. People know we’re together, don’t they?"  
  
Rose was caught on that word again. Together. “Yeah, I guess they do…." Rose trailed off at the end of her sentence. She hadn’t really thought past this point in the conversation.   
  
The Doctor stepped towards her. “Have I done something wrong?"   
  
Rose shook her head.   
  
The Doctor laid his hands on her waist. “I lied. I have thought about it. But I don’t like the words humans use. Think about it: ‘This is Rose, my girlfriend.’ No, that doesn’t do it. That doesn’t imply  _this is the woman who crossed universes for me_. Nor does it imply  _I’m in a human body now but it’s worth it for a life with her_. No. ‘Girlfriend’ doesn’t quite have that weight to it. Does that make sense?"   
  
Rose nodded. She’d felt tears filling her eyes but fought them back with a smile. “Yeah," she whispered.   
  
"Good."  
  
The Doctor smiled and pulled her into a hug. Rose buried her face in his chest, and it was a minute before she realized he was talking again. "…not that it’d be useful if you did understand Gallifreyan. I don’t even think we have a proper word for that. I mean, what do people call it when they… _oh_."  
  
He loosened his grip on Rose. Rose pulled away and noticed the Doctor was staring through her, and making the face that only occurred when something actually confused him.   
  
"Doctor?"   
  
"Huh?" His eyes snapped to hers and he still looked genuinely shocked.  
  
"You okay?" The Doctor appeared to be trying to say something. He put his hands lightly on Rose’s shoulders and bent down so he was at her eye level.   
  
“Rose." He spoke softly, more gently than she’d heard him speak in a long time. “Um…" Rose waited in silence- there was something vulnerable in his expression that told her she shouldn’t speak. The Doctor breathed in, and exhaled audibly. His next sentence came out in barely a whisper.  
  
"Will you marry me?"   
  
Rose looked up at him, unable to answer.   
  
The Doctor looked panicked, and began to stammer out all of his thoughts at once. “I don’t have a ring, or anything. Because I’ve just now thought of it. But I can get you one- or you can help me find one you like. Or, um. And I know it hasn’t been that long, but there’s no point of being in between, is there? I know I want to spend my life with you, I told you that already."  
  
Rose’s eyes were filling up with tears again, but she was starting to laugh. She knew her answer, of course, but was waiting for the Doctor to reach a stopping point.   
  
"I mean, that’s what you do, right? When you want to spend your forever with someone. Okay, not  _forever_  forever, but that’s alright. But, when you’re gonna spend your life with someone, you marry them…..what?"  
  
Rose was laughing and the Doctor had finally noticed. “Mmm-hmm." Rose raised up on her toes and wrapped her arms around the Doctor’s neck. He still seemed to be panicking, so she smoothed his hair before pressing a kiss against his lips that were still trying to form words. Instead of kissing her back, he stood up straight.   
  
"Wait, was that a ‘yes that’s what people do’ or ‘yes, you want to marry me?’" He was smiling now, and tears were forming in his eyes too.   
  
"Both, but…" Rose pulled his head back down towards hers. “Yes. I want to marry you."   
  
Rose saw a smile flash across the Doctor’s features before he bent his head forward and caught her top lip between his. Tears of happiness and relief mixed together between their cheeks. They were both laughing and smiling into each other’s lips, almost automatically exploring the territory with which they’d become so familiar. Rose had started leaving small kisses down his jawline when the Doctor pulled away. His hair and eyes were wild- if she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he was mad.  
  
"Rose Tyler," he paused. “You’re gonna keep that name, right? Love that name. Great name."   
  
Rose nodded. The Doctor never said anything the way he said her name.   
  
"Rose Tyler, I love you."   
  
"I love  _you_." She smiled. “How about that, now I can say ‘This is the Doctor, my fiance.’ Much better."   
  
The Doctor laughed. “Oh, no I think I’ll like it much better when I can say ‘This is Rose, my  _wife_.”


End file.
